You Just Have To Live
by celiacprincess
Summary: HIATUS: FORMER NJACS sequel: Val Goode goes back to Gallagher for the second semester only to find that Josh has some shocking news. It's ignored until something goes wrong. Can they pull off a miracle & save one of their own, before its too late?
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N: I'M BAAAAACK! :D Cue happy dancing music. *dances around like an idiot* uhh... Yeaah. About that. *cough* WELL. I'm back. My NaNo novel was an epic fail. Okay. Here's chapter one.)**

Okay, let's see a show of hands: who here has tried one of those cool ninja rolls?

Guilty as charged. But see, I'm excused, because I had a whole class on it this semester. Not even joking. Here, I'll stick my schedule in this thing. I'll warn you, though. I've kind of written on it. So ignore the stuff that doesn't look too professional.

NAME: Valerie Goode  
ID: ****6821  
1…HISTORY OF ESPIONAGE ADVANCED (ew much? History first thing?)  
2…ENCRYPTION AND ITS USES (like hiding stuff?)  
3…THE ART OF NINJA ROLLS (oooooh.)  
4…LUNCH (aww, not "The study of the effect eating after rolling around for an hour can have on a girl?")  
5…CHEMISTRY 2 ADVANCED (not again..)  
6…SIGN LANGUAGE 2 ADVANCED (because I already knew every other language available. -.-)  
7…INDEPENDENT STUDY (basically, nap time.)

So my year wasn't too bad. I had no real hard classes. Even the advanced classes weren't that bad. I pretty much had to teach myself anything I wanted to know. This wasn't that bad, considering the size of Timmons' library. It was the ONE good thing about the place.

"One more week, one more week…" I muttered as I made my way down the crowded hall. Finals week at Timmons Academy was extremely boring, but maybe it was just me. Honestly, they hadn't taught me anything I didn't know already. While I was here teaching myself, my friends at Gallagher Academy were protecting one of their own.

I was so mad I couldn't be there to help them. My roommates saw a totally different side of me when I managed to hack into the official report of the "incident". It wasn't pretty, I'll tell you that. Not only that, but when I learned that Zach might be involved, I seriously contemplated running away (getting out of the school was a piece of cake) and murdering him myself. Luckily for him, one of my roommates managed to hack into a British designer store and used the "friends and family" discount, so we all went shopping crazy.

I was lucky enough to have a roommate who may or may not have an addiction to hacking and creating computer programs. Everyone called her Squirt, and apparently it was with love, because she didn't mind, and actually wrote it in place of her name on school assignments. Anywho, she made a facial recognition program similar to those already existing, except hers was extremely more advanced. I don't know how that's possible, because I couldn't tell the difference, and I'm what you would call a computer nerd. I ran all the pictures from my first day at Blackthorne through it, and came up with some surprising matches. I learned that a couple kids I had met there were related (ah, that's how hers was more advanced…), but I also learned that Zach's profile matched that of someone who was involved in the whole Macey thing. It was somewhere on a train. I didn't really get the full story, because the bell rang and I had to go to class, but it made me curious. Once Macey was safe though, I stopped worrying about it as much. I couldn't do anything about it, so I took the advice from my friends and didn't stress.

I had tried to stay in touch with Zach, but he didn't exactly make it easy. I mean, once I figured out that he _wasn't _at Blackthorne, I figured I would have been able to talk to him. Makes sense, right? Lousy jammers at TA, and no jammers where he was (wherever that was…) should equal easy communication. Apparently not, because not once did he call me. Or text, email, Facebook, or IM me. I had been used to not talking to my twin for long periods of time before last year, but after seeing him every day for a semester, I kinda missed him. Not that I'd ever admit that. He was as annoying as heck without the notion that he made a lasting "brotherly" impression on me. Puh-lease. That would only make things worse.

About three weeks into my semester at Timmons, I got an encrypted email from an address I didn't know. Anyone else would have marked it as spam and deleted it, fearing it would give them a virus. Me? I took Squirt's best virus protection, added a couple of my own tweaks to it, and started decrypting the email. Two and a half hours later, I got a coupon for extra credit for my Encryption class and a compressed file. I still didn't know who had sent the email, but after tracing the address for thirty minutes (whoever had sent it had bounced it off of like eighty countries, like they would do with a phone call), I got a name.

_Ms. Morgan. _

Excited, I unzipped the file and five minutes later, my roommates walked in to see me staring open mouthed at the screen. Laina, the girl that had become one of my best friends in those three weeks, came over and play slapped my cheeks, to "wake me up". I let out a high pitched squeal, which earned me a few weird looks. The files turned out to be zillions of lessons – worksheets, notes, lectures, power points, quizzes, tests, and even the finals – for all the classes I would have taken at Gallagher. There was one line of text included: _If you got this, you deserve it. You'll catch up before you get back, I'm sure. _

My roommates didn't understand the significance of this, but I sure did. I knew that it took Macey a TON of hard work to get up to the same level as Cammie and the rest of the kids in our grade, and since I had come in a year later, I had just as much work (not more, because I was taking advanced classes at my old school, which helped some. And I discovered I had a thing for languages. So that helped too). This information would allow me to test out of those classes, so I could start basically at the same place everyone else was in most subjects.

The year passed, and I kept up with my TA classes, and caught up with my Gallagher work. Now, finals week was here, and my move back to the States was confirmed. I started packing up everything, so I could send it out as soon as possible (we had one day after finals to get our stuff together before we were released). Right before lunch we all had a free hour – no finals, no classes, no food being served. Everyone either used it to study or sleep. Since it was Monday, we had the rest of our finals in front of us, so most people were studying. We all got called to the Great Hall for a "special announcement". The last time we'd had one, we were told that our Ancient History teacher (who I didn't know…) was being recognized for saving the life of a Russian dignitary. Except he wasn't being given the award under the name we knew, because apparently if anyone besides us knew it, he would have to leave our school. It was an extremely awkward assembly. My roommates and I were debating what it would be this time when Mr. Tarson came on stage.

"We have some very special guests this last week, so I'd appreciate it if you all gave them a warm welcome." The headmaster paused, and everyone sat waiting for him to continue. It was dead quiet when a loud "AAAAHHHHH!!!" came from across the room. I spun around. A scream that loud could only mean one thing.

Cammie and Bex were here.

**(A/N: So. What did you think? Y'all are smart people, let's not repeat the whole "I need five reviews before I post the next chapter" think. Okay? Okay. You review, I post. If I can. I'll be out for Christmas, because I'M GOING TO ENGLAND!! *squeeee* Anywho. Questions? Comments? Happy dances? Threats? Review. If you have an account, I'll reply. If not, I can't, so sorry. Til later, cp.) **


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: Thank you for the LOVELY reviews! *hugs* here you go!) **

I stood up, even though technically that was kind of breaking the rules (you're supposed to sit during assemblies). I don't think anyone really cared though, because both Cammie and Bex were running across the room towards me. Still in their uniforms. I made a mental note to ask them about that later. For now, I settled with a loud, very girly group hug. A couple guys whistled. I assumed they (the whistles) were directed at my friends, because I'd been here all semester, and they'd never done that to me.

"IMISSEDYOUSOSOSOSOMUCH!" Cammie yelled in my ear. I pulled away a bit and looked at her. She was acting very un-Cammie like. I turned to Bex, who shrugged.

"She's been on an airplane for an insanely long time. This is apparently the result."

I laughed. The headmaster cleared his throat. Before he could yell at us, Bex's parents walked in. I realized that they were probably the guests he had been talking about, not my friends.

"Mr. and Mrs. Baxter, everyone!" He announced proudly. "They have agreed to take time out of their busy schedules and spend the week with us. They can answer any questions you have about working in England's MI6." A few kids applauded, but most were paying more attention to Bex and Cammie than the adults. I then remembered that I had never met Bex's parents, so I broke away from my friends and went up to them.

"Hi. I'm Val," I said, sticking my hand out.

"Hello Val," Mr. Baxter said pleasantly. "I'm Bex's father." He shook my hand and his wife laughed.

"I think she knows who you are." She took my hand and smiled. "I've talked to your mother," she started. At the word 'mother', I stiffened, but she didn't say anything (because of course she noticed…duh). "We've made plans for the holiday, and I've made sure she knows that you're traveling back with the girls." She winked at me, and I grinned.

"Thank you so much ma'am. I appreciate it."

***

"So let me get this straight," Bex said thirty minutes later. We were sitting in the library, watching kids study frantically for their finals. "You're coming back with us at the end of break." I nodded. "And Zach…?"

"I have no idea," I said. "I've barely talked to him all semester. I don't even know what's going on with him. I was supposed to see him for Christmas, but now I'm not sure…" I trailed off as a group of freshmen guys came into the library. They took one look at the two girls with me and walked over. I rolled my eyes. I had spent the entire first six weeks here getting them to leave me alone. Luckily, Cammie's brilliant.

"SO I was talking to Macey a couple days ago, and she said that spiked hair was the new IN style for guys. But pretty soon, everyone's going to be doing it, and then only the people that had it first will be in style."

The three guys looked at each other and bolted. I love freshmen. Bex laughed.

"I missed having guys around…"

I just looked at her. "It gets real old, real fast. Trust me."

"Well yeah. But I think…" Bex never got to finish. She was cut off by the first ever CODE RED in the history of Timmons Academy (I did research. They had a CR system, but it had never been tested. I was fairly sure this _wasn't_ a drill).

"Oh jeez," I muttered as every person in the library except Bex, Cammie, and I erupted into terrified screams that just happened to be timed perfectly with the spinning of the bookshelves, which totally didn't help the screaming go away. My friends and I looked at each other and bolted for the door. We were extremely lucky, because at Gallagher, the hallways got packed with girls running everywhere, actually helping the Code Red. Here, they were hiding in their classrooms at the instruction of teachers. I fear for the safety of the future generations living in England. My roommates were going up the stairs as we were coming down them, so I pulled them along (not literally). Sure enough, at the front of the school stood a very flustered looking Headmaster, Bex's parents, and a few teachers.

"Girls, there you are," Mrs. Baxter started. "Could you give a very important family's children a tour?"

"I don't know, Mum." Bex said. "The whole school is panicking."

"It's really bad," I said as two girls ran by, screaming. "Maybe if you made an announcement for everyone to get back to their rooms…"

"Yes, yes of course." The Headmaster turned and started toward his office and not even a minute later we heard the intercom click on. "Everyone, settle down. I need everyone to report to their rooms immediately. The Code Red is a warning that the school is about to be introduced as a normal, high end boarding school. Keep the halls clear and avoid discussing any classified material. Thank you."

Mentally, I added, "Basically, don't talk. Because your whole life is classified as far as this is concerned." Out loud, I said nothing, and ran outside. I was insanely surprised to see a girl that looked about eleven getting out of a limousine. The thing is, I could actually picture her as a spy. Or, I could picture being able to mold her into a spy. Then her brother got out. This kid was overweight by more than a few pounds and had his face in a video game. I laughed quietly. Only Cammie heard me, and grinned.

"Wait til he finds out you can't have those."

"Security is lacking here. You totally can." I whispered back. Her eyes got big.

"Well that's kind of stupid."

"Tell me about it." I rolled my eyes and waited. The third pair of shoes getting out of the limo belonged to a boy that looked about my age. Unlike his brother, he was drop dead gorgeous. Things got even better when he reached back into the limo and came out holding the hand of a girl about four years old. He swung her up on her shoulders and grinned at us.

"Hello."

Next to me, I felt Cammie tense. She had had some bad experience with that word. I thanked my lucky stars that my roommates had gone up to our room when they were told to, because they would not have handled this well.

"Hello," Bex replied in her natural accent. "I'm Bex. This is Cammie, and this is Val."

"Welcome to Timmons Academy. It's an amazing school. But then again, not everyone likes our curriculum." I smiled, remembering that this kid wasn't supposed to like the school. "Excuse me for a moment, I'm going to see if they're ready for you inside." I pulled out my phone, not to ask anyone anything, but to get ready to broadcast a temporary jamming signal. I had figured it out weeks before, and used it twice – once when we had a major research paper due and everyone kept getting distracted, and once when Squirt was getting bothered by an ex. Now I was planning on using it so that this kid's game wouldn't work. Phase one of the unspoken plan, T minus thirty seconds.

"Alright, this way please." I nodded at Cammie, who started in on a story about a chess tournament that was held every year, and was "right around the corner, in fact. Everyone's so excited. We all love chess."

I started broadcasting the signal as the cute guy replied, "Cool. I'll have to play you sometime." I was worried until I realized that Cammie was a freaking genius, and could no doubt beat him at the game. About that time, the little brother stopped walking, stared at his game, and let out a few expletives. This resulted in a strong slap from the older brother, and a scolding from both little girls. I winked at Cammie and she laughed silently.

When we finally got inside, we were met by the Headmaster and Bex's parents, who are apparently involved in the school curriculum. We went into the main office for a brief introduction about the school's "history", during which Cammie filled me in on the similarity of this story to the one Macey received when she was a Code Red at Gallagher. All went well until we took over. Somehow, mixing a hot guy with a bunch of girls that are training to be spies doesn't work very well.

As soon as we stepped out of the office, my phone buzzed. It was Squirt, asking where exactly we were planning on taking the visitors. I replied with a text shrug (*shrug*) and seconds later, I heard a very faint buzz. It wasn't mine, and my friends didn't act like it was theirs, so I ignored it. Then I heard other noises, and the spy in me kicked in. We were being watched.

Oh joy.

**(A/N: Okay, so the note at the top was actually written BEFORE I even posted Chapter one. I thought about deleting it, so I wouldn't jinx my review count, but I realized that those of you that read NJACS (which by the way, comes FIRST – so if you're lost, read it) were AMAZING about reviewing, so I left it up. I love you all. **

**Now. I'm trying to come up with something catchy to end every AN with. Like a question or story or quote… but I haven't come up with anything yet. So we'll see. Til next time, cp.) **


	3. Chapter 3

I glanced at Cammie. Sure enough, she was looking around, listening for the sound she had obviously heard too. Bex must have heard it too, because she pulled out her cell phone and from the keystrokes, I knew she was pulling up a map of the building. The hot guy started to lean over to see, but I started talking. Fast.

"Soifyougorightdownthishallway, youwillseethenewauditorium," I said before remembering to breathe.

"New auditorium? Was there an old one?" The question registered before the fact that he had understood what I had said, and that registered before I realized that my distracting tactic had worked. I made a mental note to do a happy dance later, and then decided to actually answer his question.

"Well yes… But I wasn't here when they used it. I just started this semester." I figured the truth couldn't hurt.

"Oh cool. Well, you won't be the new kid anymore next semester." He grinned, but I just blinked.

"I know… I'm not going to _be _here next semester." I started panicking, wondering how the mashed potatoes he knew that I was leaving.

"Why not?" Oh wait. Maybe he didn't know. False alarm.

"Um…" So this is why they suggested I take an acting class. It would have come in handy right about now.

"She's coming back to the States with us." Cammie spoke up, saving me from what was sure to be something ridiculous.

"You two aren't going to be here either?" The guy's face was falling.

"Nope. We found a much better school in the U.S., and it's an all – girls' school. So sadly you couldn't come." Bex said, moving around him to stand by me.

"Well then I'm just going to have to find a boys' school there." The kid grinned. Cammie started to speak, but was interrupted by giggles.

"Hi!" A female voice said from behind me. I spun around. Of course my roommates would be the ones to follow and find us. This could be bad.

"Hello," the guy said. "Are you students here?"

I rolled my eyes, and Squirt giggled. Then I realized that _she_ was there, and shot her a Look. She grinned.

"Definitely. This school is great. I'm sure you'd love it here," one of the girls started, but Bex cut them off.

"Well. We'd better move on with the tour. And if you lot," she glared at the girls, "don't get out of here, you'll surely get in trouble."

They ran off, probably more scared of Bex than the thought of actual trouble. We continued the tour, managing to make the school sound as lame as possible, and totally hinting that the U.S. had a better school. Not that it would make a difference, this guy wouldn't get into Blackthorne. His sister might get into Gallagher, because towards the end, her chubby brother tried to push her down the stairs, and she managed to flip him backwards and jump over the railing before Cammie, Bex, or I could do anything. That kid is going places.

When I finally checked out of Timmons, there was no real sad goodbye. Sure, I got a little sad when I said bye to Squirt and my roommates, but it's not like they were my sisters. I was going back to them (my sisters) after the holidays. I couldn't be happier. Plus, Zach was supposed to be in London with our parents soon, and that would mean that I'd get to see him. Which would be great, since I had some questions for him (one of which was something along the lines of "WHAT THE MASHED POTATOES IS YOUR PROBLEM!"). However, instead of going to my parents' temporary house, I went with Cammie to Bex's. That proved to be an ordeal in itself. This should not have surprised me, her parents being who they are, but it did. Luckily, after the first full body scan, someone with security took the liberty to clear Cammie and I (and of course Bex), so all we needed was the handprint. Mr. and Mrs. Baxter turned before us, but reminded Bex that we'd meet for dinner. That worked out just fine for us, and Bex took us on a tour. I finally got to see how a real spy family lived (we're talking everything from massive decoders in the microwave to a chem. lab with a formula for the perfect fall scent). Bex's room was pretty high tech too, with a computer faster than I could imagine and a sky light that opened only with a command given in French. The beds were in the loft, and the entire floor could be turned into a practice area.

Thirty minutes later, we were all on the floor, out of breath. "It's so lovely to go up against people that actually know what they're doing." I muttered.

"You have got to teach me that ninja roll technique," Cammie said teasingly. I pushed myself up onto my elbows.

"Hey. It's some good stuff. You'd be missing out if you didn't learn it."

Bex laughed. "Right Val. You just keep telling yourself that."

"Ms. Goode, someone is here to see you." The robotic voice announced. Half a minute later, I realized that the robot had a British accent but was speaking German. I raised my eyes at Bex, who grinned and nodded toward the door. I started out, but when I reached the door, I realized that I had no earthly idea where I was going or how to get there. Cammie laughed, but stopped abruptly when I'm guessing she realized the same thing. Bex looked at us both and shook her head.

"Are you two spies or not?" She asked. I was getting used to hearing her use a British accent, and it dawned on me that for the past six months, I had been using one too.

**(A/N: Eeesh. Long breaks are bad for the whole thought process thing. PLATFORM 9 and 3/4 EXISTS! And I got a picture there. I am so insanely happy. Anywho. I'd like to remind any new readers around here that I am a Junior in highschool. I am in a play. I'm B-U-S-Y. I'll try to get chappies out as fast as possible, but come on. I'm a ninja, not a superhero. Til later, cp.) **


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N: So that was a really bad place to end it. I kind of spaced out and didn't finish before I posted. Whoops. Here ya go.)**

I looked at Cammie. She was shaking her head. "Duh." We both pulled out our phones and got a location and directions (which didn't include secret passageways or air vents, though one of the hallways smelled like garlic or old socks, or both). When we finally reached the foyer, I saw my visitor.

"ZACH!" I cried, running to my twin.

"Hey Val. What's up?" He gave me a half-hug, and I remembered that I was supposed to be mad at him. Unfortunately, ever the spy, Zach countered my punch and grabbed my wrists. "We'll talk later sis, okay?"

I glared at him for a few moments before nodding.

"Hey Gallagher Girl," Zach said to Cammie. He gave her a hug too, and high fived Bex.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, forever the sanest when it came to boys.

"Visiting. On my way home actually. I came to get Val."

"Oh. Um. Right." I turned to Bex and Cammie.

"You don't know how to get back, do you?" Bex asked with a grin.

"Oh, I definitely know how. I'd just like to know the short version."

"Go down the hall and take a right," Mrs. Baxter said, coming into the foyer. "Hello dear. I didn't catch your name."

"I'm Zach, Val's twin," he said, extending his hand. I rolled my eyes at Cammie and did what Bex's mom said. Sure enough, there was the hallway that I had stepped into before. I rolled my eyes and managed to get my stuff (what I had actually taken into Bex's room, that is) and get back without an issue. I hugged my friends goodbye, promised I'd come back soon, and walked out with my twin.

Zach walked straight up to a car that was parked on the street and got in on the passenger side. Feeling excited, I walked to the driver's side, and had a mini heart attack when I didn't see a steering wheel. Zach started laughing, and I realized that since we were in _England, _the sides were flipped. Which also meant that they drove on the other side of the street.

"Please tell me you're joking about this whole driving thing," I muttered as I got in the car.

"It'll be fine sis. No worries. I'm a pro at this." Zach said with a wink and started the car.

Never in my life had I been more terrified.

Luckily, the two houses weren't far from each other, and involved no major roads, so we arrived safely. I was kind of hoping for the same level of security that Bex's house had, but I could tell right away that it wasn't even close. True, we had to go through a few scans and I disabled the GPS blocker, but it was no biggie. The house was huge though. Like, I think it could have eaten our other one for lunch. Or a snack. I got lost twice trying to get to my room, and ended up in the kitchen. I took this as a sign and made myself something to eat. Zach walked in, grabbed a banana, and walked out. It took me longer than it should have to realize that he was wearing swim trunks. Curious, I put down my spoon and followed him.

I now know that this house has an indoor, heated pool.

Eeeesh.

***

Christmas was fun. I ended up going over to Bex's after like ten in the morning. I mean, hello! I never spend Christmas with them, and I'm _always _with my "parents", so one year didn't matter. The time before ten in the morning was spent disarming half of my gifts and hacking into Zach's, just to mess with him (I got a new, uber quick laptop for Christmas). That was fun.

It was more fun at Bex's house. Apparently, "Christmas" is synonymous with "spy practice" at her house. I walked in to find Cammie sitting on top of the coat closet, with her finger to her lips. I nodded and kept walking. Next, I saw Mrs. Baxter come flying out of nowhere and tackle Mr. Baxter onto the sofa. She sprayed a water bottle at him, and ran off. I kind of stood there for a minute until he got up, and noticed me.

"Hi Val," he whispered. "Here." He handed me a can of silly string and winked. I watched as he turned and climbed halfway up the stairs. There, he flicked on a light switch, which caused a piece of the wall to pop out slightly. He crawled in the space and slid it shut. From the ground, I shot silly string at the wall square, and hoped that whoever he scared wouldn't fall off the stairs. I turned to see Bex standing behind me, holding a bag of giant marshmallows. When I say giant, I'm talking HUGE. The bag was the size of a pillow case, and the marshmallows were massive, like the size of a computer mouse. I felt my eyes get wide, and she grinned.

"Team?" she asked quietly, and I nodded. We moved through the house, after Cammie, who was no longer where I left her, and my brother, who had vanished the second we entered the property.

I'm proud to say that by the end of the day (it gets dark in England at about 4:00 pm during the winter holidays), the teams were Bex and I, Cammie and Zach (which was odd, because he's totally my twin, and Cam and Bex are best friends, but whatever), and Bex's parents. We won. Cue happy dancing.

***

Saying goodbye to my parents wasn't hard at all. Saying bye to Zach was kind of tough, but we'd be meeting him at the airport to say bye for real. The flight was long and fairly boring. I think we all slept. About an hour before we landed, Bex's alarm went off, and we managed to pull ourselves together enough so that in the event we saw anyone we knew between the gate, customs, and the limo, we wouldn't die of embarrassment. In the end, we saw no one of importance, and made it to the school without the slightest problem.

The problems started once we reached the school.

The main one being that we were the first ones there. I'm not just talking about the first _students_ there. No. We were the first ones there, period. There were no teachers, no Cammie's mom, not even any janitors.

If you're not seeing the problem here, our little situation left us unable to get into the building the conventional way.

"Well…" Cammie started. "We could still get in."

"Or we could just take a walk…" Bex said. "You don't know what kind of security things they did this time."

The two looked at each other for a while, and Cam accepted that as the truth. The limo driver said he was staying at the school until _someone _got there (he needed to sign off that he got us here), so we left our luggage with him. We walked into town, and Cammie and Bex pointed out various locations. Since my first year had been at Blackthorne, I had never seen it before. We were in a small diner, thinking about grabbing something to eat before we started back to school. Someone coughed from behind us, and before we could even turn around, a male voice spoke.

"Hi Cammie."

**(A/N: I'm sorry its shortish. I just liked the cliffy. I really do love you guys. Especially kas. Thank you for making me laugh at an insanely early hour of the morning. Tell your brother that long reviews are the best.) **


	5. Chapter 5

**(A/N: So Chapter 3 gave me issues. I fixed it and put in WHO exactly was following them. Its not much of a change, so you don't have to waste time going back. It was the roommates that were following them.)**

Cam was the first to turn around. Bex and I followed half a second later, but Cammie was already talking.

"Josh. Hi."

Bex took a quiet breath.

"This is my cousin, Manson." Josh said, obviously for lack of anything else to say.

"Bex, and Val." Cammie said.

"So you all go to school together?" Manson asked. I looked between him and Josh. I had no idea who these guys were, or how this one knew about our school.

"Yeah. And actually we should be going." Cammie said, moving towards the door.

"Right," Josh said. "Wait, Cammie." She stopped. "Um… See you around?"

"Yeah," Bex said for her. She took my arm and started after Cammie.

"Nice meeting you!" I called. I think they responded, but I couldn't be sure. I was too busy to listening to Cammie's babbling. Bex finally got her to shut up and calm down, and then explained to me that Josh was Cammie's ex-boyfriend, and gave me what I assumed to be the short version of the events that occurred shortly after their breakup. I will now be careful of what type of tea I drink while at school.

We did end up walking back to the school, and when we got there, we saw a group of teachers there. They were crowded around Cammie's mom, who was attempting to unlock the gate. As we mingled with them, we learned that the new security procedure required Ms. Morgan (as Headmistress) to enter a code in order to open the building.

The security people didn't give her a code. Tell me I'm not the only one that sees the new problem here.

"Um. Mom?" Cammie said after about five minutes (five minutes and twelve – thirteen – fourteen… seconds. YAY mental clock). "Val's a pretty good hacker…"

Within seconds, I was in front of the code box, hooking my cell phone up to it. This worried me slightly, since the teachers at a spy school are… well… _spies_.

Anywho. I guess the code box just liked me, because fifteen seconds after I started messing with it, it gave a happy beep and let us in. As people filed past, Cammie pulled me aside.

"What was the correct code?" her mom asked, glancing at the code box. In that moment, I saw why I had been able to get in.

"Well… I'm not too sure. I mean, I am. I just don't know what it is exactly…" I stopped when I realized that Cammie, Bex, and Ms. Morgan were all looking at me like I was crazy. "Um. Okay. The code box has a number pad, right? Well duh. But my phone didn't know that. So when I was putting codes in, I put words in. Then when they went into the box, they converted to a number sequence using a dial pad's lettering system. So like, A, B, and C are all the number two. Then D, E, and F are three, and so on. Zero is a space, and one isn't anything. Since it's in dial pad form, the code has to be like a phone number. I guess that's like a hidden thing, because in a real phone number, you would have eleven digits, with the one in front. But this one only has ten, since the one doesn't count. And if you put less in, not only would it be wrong, but it wouldn't appear as a three-three-four pattern code, so it wouldn't work. So the code is 282-253-0486."

"Well. Thank you, Val. You girls have fun. Your luggage should be in your rooms." With that, Cammie's mom walked off, and left Cam and Bex staring at me.

"Okay. You're good. I'd thought that maybe you'd gotten a little rusty being at Timmons, but you're not." Bex said with a smile.

"Definitely. What word was that, anyway?" Cammie asked.

"Bubble gum." I said. "It was just a random guess…" I trailed off as Cammie hit her forehead with her palm.

"Duh. Bubble Gum guard. DUH."

I glanced at Bex, who mouthed "Don't ask" and started for the school. I shrugged and followed, with Cammie next to me. We were the first students to get back, something that Cam said was normal for her. I figured, her mom being the Headmistress and all. In our first hour being in the building, we learned that we'd get to take another trip to Roseville in a week, when everyone else showed up but before classes actually started. This semester, they were doing things a little differently. Previously, students showed up, ate dinner, and started the next morning. Now, students showed up, ate dinner, had the whole next day free (to shop or just hang out), and started classes the following day. I could only imagine that it had something to do with the part about kids staying up all night to gossip, and then being tired the next day.

So yay us.

I quickly unpacked and headed to Cammie and Bex's room. Since Liz and Macey weren't there yet, they were just kind of goofing off, and not actually unpacking. I asked why.

"Well," Cammie said, glancing at Bex. "You know Liz." I blinked. While this was a true statement, it didn't answer my question. "Um. She's a tad clumsy upon arrival."

I nodded, not really knowing what she meant. I figured I'd just wait and see. I was still waiting two hours later, when Cammie's mom stuck her head into the room (we'd left the door open).

"Girls, feel free to head into town for dinner. The kitchen's been torn apart. Someone heard a beeping and we've had to test the room for explosives." With that, she left. I admired how calm she had been about the whole situation.

"Joy. I'm going in disguise. Who's with me?" Cammie said, standing up. Bex laughed.

"Cam, it's okay. We've got your back. Josh won't bother you." Still, Cammie looked wary, so Bex agreed. I saw no possible way for them to go undercover and me not, so I agreed as well.

This was not smart.

Five different outfits, six pairs of sunglasses, two hair styles, eight names, and exactly one hour and forty two minutes later, we walked out of the building. Figures that the first person we saw when we got to town was Josh. Figures he'd be with his cousin. And some girl that I didn't know.

"Uh oh," Cammie muttered. Apparently she did. We took a sharp right, which would have been brilliant, except that to our right was nothing but store fronts, and therefore brick walls. Some spies we were. Anywho. Once we managed to get to the little diner we were at before, and safely order and sit down, Cammie filled me in on the girl. Apparently she was Josh's best friend, and girlfriend after Cammie. Her name was DeeDee, and from what I could gather, Cammie was slightly jealous of her. Not much, just a bit.

Our food came, and after looking around, Cam decided that it was safe to remove the sunglasses. We did so, and five minutes later realized that it was a very bad idea.

"Cammie?" Josh asked, walking over. "Thought that was you."

"Liar." I turned around to see what was going on just in time to see Manson hit Josh. "I thought it was her."

"So what?"

"Cammie! It's great to see you again!" Thank you, hyper girl.

"You too," Cammie said, looking rather uncomfortable. It dawned on me that our covers had been broken by three non-spies. What a way to start the semester.

"So," I said, just to break the silence. "Manson, do you live here?" I realized it was a rather dumb question, because I didn't live there, and therefore had no way of knowing that he didn't. Or to Cammie's knowledge, didn't.

"I'm visiting Josh this semester. New school, new girls." He winked. Across the table from me, I saw Cammie stiffen ever so slightly. Her and boys were not a good combination. Like Zach. What they'd told me about the fall semester, I'm surprised Cam didn't kill my brother upon arrival. I'm very glad she didn't though. He _is_ still my brother.

Josh was laughing. "Right. There are only so many options. Then they have to be willing to date _you_. Which kind of narrows things down."

I could only guess he was kidding. The two didn't really look alike, but that works, because I look nothing like my cousins. Where Josh was about five foot ten or eleven (with or without shoes), Manson was taller, pushing six foot. He had blonde hair, but it was just as wavy Josh's. Their eyes matched, somewhat. Well, they matched in the fact that they both "put even Mr. Solomon's to shame" (Cam let me read the report she wrote on their meeting. I kind of memorized that part…). And the smiles. Yeah. Definitely the smiles.

But there was something different about them. Something that wasn't really visible or anything. It was more of a feeling than anything else. Josh was completely normal, given the situation, but his cousin? He was more assertive in a mysterious way. Like a locked journal. You know there's something important inside, but can't get to it, and are afraid to break the lock, because you don't know what's inside. It was kind of like that.

Kind of like Zach.

"Where's your partner-in-crime?" Bex asked. I knew (from the report and her sleep talking) that she meant some guy named Dillon.

"Still gone for the summer. He'll be back tomorrow," Josh answered before going quiet. I remembered that Dillon was the one that, well, caused problems for Anna. Anna was my roommate and a good friend of mine. All I had to say was that Dillon would be in some serious pain if he tried anything again.

"Well, we'd better get going," Bex said after a minute. We had managed somehow to finish most of what we ordered, and dropped a tip on the table, cementing our decision to leave. For reasons I will never know, I had put my sunglasses not on the table like my friends had, but on the bench next to me. Of course, as I attempted to slide out, I knocked them to the floor. I went to reach for them, but Manson beat me to it. He said nothing as he handed them to me, and as I took them, the spy in me memorized exactly where he had touched them.

Because of course, I had full intentions of running a full background check on him.

**(A/N: Happy New Years, you lovely readers you. *squee* I hope it actually HAS been a happy New Year, because around here it hasn't. The least of the issues being that I found a list of stories I'd started from about a year or two ago (before NJACS, if that says anything…) and well, I had a "Status" column. "F" I get means "Finished". "H" is "Hiatus", "N" is "New", and "A" I'm guessing means "Active". If anyone has any ideas on what "C" or "S" might mean, let me know. Thanks.) **


	6. Chapter 6

Manson came up clean. This wasn't really a surprise. I mean, so did Zach. And heaven knows that _he's _far from innocent.

But still.

Either Josh's cousin was a high level spy, or he was just a normal guy. The latter was most logical. Really. His cousin was _Josh_. Who ran a fork lift through a wall to "rescue" Cammie during a CoveOps final. Enough said.

Liz and Macey arrived the next day, along with Anna and the rest of the girls. I found out what Cammie meant when she said Liz was clumsy (let's just say that if Cammie would have put anything on the dresser, it would have died a horrible death). We spent the whole morning catching up, and eventually got around to going back to town. At one point, when Macey was French braiding my hair, Cammie turned to us.

"You know, this isn't good."

"What isn't?" Liz said, coming out of the bathroom.

"Going to town. We went yesterday. We saw Josh twice…" She trailed off. My brain started processing the hidden meaning.

"It seems… dangerous?" It came out more like a question, and Cammie nodded.

"Right. The whole point of keeping us separated is one, our curriculum, obviously, but also to protect our biggest cover of all time. Why risk exposure?" I had to admit, coming from the girl that had, well, "risked it" more than anyone, it made a ton of sense. I would have thought that they would have learned by now.

"Maybe it's for a reason. Like a pre-test or something," Liz said, her eyes getting wide. "I did some reviewing before I came back, but probably not enough."

"It wouldn't be a pre-test," I said suddenly. "Not everyone's going." This was true. Kim wasn't (thanks to a head cold), and half of the eighth graders were staying back, because someone had warned them that they would have a real test in the next few days.

"Then what is it?" Liz asked. As if it had to be something more than a trip into town. As if it couldn't be what it appeared to be.

Which it totally couldn't.

We spent the next ten minutes finishing getting ready and trying to come up with a valid reason for the unusual allowed trip. I didn't really mind, the walk was nice and it had that small town feel to it. Plus the whole Josh-slash-Cammie thing was pretty interesting. Cam had said that when she was in town with Zach last year, Josh hardly said two words. She also said that Zach called Josh "Jimmy". I couldn't help her out on the meaning there, but I had to inform her that it definitely wasn't that he just couldn't remember the kid's name. He's better with names than I am. Really. I made an account, and the security question was "What was your best friend's name in first grade?", and Zach was able to get it right on the first try. I couldn't believe it. He knew her cat's name too. My twin is odd.

We met Anna and Tina on our way out. First thing Tina does is turn to me and go, "So is it true that Blackthorne's coming back this semester?" I just looked at her. "You know, because we went there last."

"Um?" I looked at Cammie, who shrugged slightly. "I don't think so. Zach didn't say anything about that."

"Did he say anything about the people that tried to kidnap Cammie?"

"No… We didn't really talk about school." I saw that this probably had been a mistake, but I wasn't about to admit that.

"Oh. Well-"

"Hey look!" Anna said, cutting Tina off. "Christmas decorations!" I followed her finger and saw that there were, indeed, Christmas decorations. I glanced at Cammie, who looked at Bex, who looked at me. Either we're all really bad at noticing things, or those decorations weren't there yesterday. And not to brag or anything, but I seriously doubt the first one. I mean, hello, it was kind of our jobs to notice things. Our lives depended on it. Or they would one day. (Actually, given the events of last semester, they already did.)

Anyway. The decorations were new. And unless my internal calendar is completely screwed up (which I also doubt), Christmas was, well, over.

"Let's ask about it in town," I said, not wanting to admit to Tina that we'd been there twice before (because then questions about Josh might come up, and I knew Cam didn't want that).

"Right." We continued in silence until we got to the shops, and Anna said, "Hey, I'm going to go refill this thing," she held up her inhaler, "before things get crazy."

Cammie shuddered, and I told Anna I was going with her. She accepted this, and our group split up. I knew that Josh's dad owned the pharmacy. I had done my research. What I didn't know was that Josh was now working there more often.

"You coming, Val?" Anna asked, holding the door.

"Nah. I want to try that thing Bex did. You know, getting in without ringing the bell?" I grinned. "Two seconds, okay?"

"Sure." Anna smiled. "Want me to film it?" I nodded, and she pulled a camera out of her purse (even though she totally had one in her sunglasses). In about five seconds, she gave me the thumbs up and I went for it. Three attempts later, I got it. I could tell you how I did it, but I think I'll just let you figure it out on your own.

Josh took Anna's inhaler, but he didn't say anything. He definitely wasn't in the same mood as he was yesterday. While he was gone, Anna and I picked up gum and vitamins and stuff that we needed but hadn't exactly thought to bring.

Of course, it would make total sense for Dillon to choose that moment to walk in (ringing the bell). Because he was on vacation, and sure, when he got back, he'd come say hi to his best friend. So when he walked in, Anna squeaked so softly that I barely heard her. He just stared at her, then at me, and then slowly, a smirk spread across his face.

"So where are your friends this time, rich girl?" He asked Anna directly. "This one's new." That was directed at me. "Did the other two get jealous of your boyfriend?"

"No," Anna said quietly. "They're just busy."

"Busy? I guess that's why you're here," he turned to me and about eight different ways to kill him ran though my mind (oh no, I'm spending too much time around Cammie). "Rich girls gotta stick together."

"Anna?" That was Josh, coming back in view. "Here you go. Oh hey Dillon. When'd you get here?"

"Just now. I was going to tell you about my trip, but I'm sure it would seem boring to these two." He scoffed. "Because they're _sooo_ important."

"Well actually," I started, but instead of finishing, just winked. Anna caught on and laughed, like it was some inside joke.

"So where'd you come from?" Dillon asked me, making his way over to the counter and Josh. Apparently us "rich girls" aren't the only ones that have to stick together.

"You mean your mommy never told you?" I gave a huge fake sigh. "Well you see, when—"

"She's friends with Cammie," Josh said, cutting me off. "That's why she's here."

"Yeah. Pretty much." I said, mostly because they couldn't ever know the truth, and partly because a flash of hair caught my eye. It wasn't just any hair, it was the _exact _shade of hair that I was currently wrapping around my finger. It was Zach's hair.

But Zach wasn't here. Zach was somewhere far away, at Blackthorne, safe and sound (or as safe and sound as a spy in training could be, which when you think about it, isn't very safe. I tried to get a better look without being too obvious, but Dillon started messing with Anna again, and though she was holding her own, I couldn't really afford to be distracted. So five minutes later, as we were _finally _leaving the pharmacy, I kept my mouth shut to prevent the flow of thoughts from escaping my overflowing brain. I didn't tell Anna, and when we met up with Cam and the girls, I didn't tell them either. We passed Manson, which caused a flurry of hushed whispers declaring him "hot" and other synonyms of the term "good-looking", but my brain wasn't really paying attention to that.

We were walking back to school, and my thoughts finally slowed down enough for me to actually separate the individual ones, as opposed to a jumble of words and sentences. I played back the moment in my mind, and noticed that the face shape was practically the same as my own and therefore my twin's, and the way he walked was a perfect match. I shook my head, prepared to tell anyone that asked that I thought there was a fly in my hair.

It couldn't have been my brother, right? I mean, _here_. Two miles from my school. He would have told me. _Right?! _I mean, if I was two miles from _his _school, I would have told him. Psh. I would have given him a flying tackle bear hug. And then laughed because I got there. But still, that guy looked oddly like Zach. I took one glance over my shoulder, but I didn't see anything besides the streets of Roseville.

**(A/N: School + play + BPA regionals + One Act tryouts + fundraisers = not as many chapter updates for the next few weeks. *sniff* Wish me luck at tryouts! Well, the whole "break a leg" thing, please, since it IS a play. (: ) **


	7. Author's Note on YJHTL

**(A/N: Hey loves. I wanted to make sure that you all knew that this story is dead for now (the little issue of book 4 coming out messed up my plot) and I started a new NJACS sequel. It's called Best Friends are Perfect Backup. I know it's been FOREVER since I wrote NJACS but if y'all are still in the Gallagher Girls fanfic reading mode… go read it! Please? And maybe review? There will be virtual cupcakes on my profile page as an incentive. Good deal, huh? Yeah, thought so. **

**There's also a Harry Potter fanfic up and in progress. It ships Draco & Hermione, so if you're into that, go give it a look-see. **

**Also. I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year again, so November things will go dead. I'll have a bunch of stuff out before then though, so do your stuff now so that when I come back, you'll know. Okie? Peaceeeee.) **


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